Guest stnami Posted November 22, 2007 Share #41 Posted November 22, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) ////////////////// Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 22, 2007 Posted November 22, 2007 Hi Guest stnami, Take a look here Street Photography for a Shrinking Violet. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
earleygallery Posted November 22, 2007 Share #42 Posted November 22, 2007 yes, except that there are strict laws here in germany that grand people the right of their own picture. from this i am not allowed to take pictures in a portrait way. and many street pics shown here are like this. the law is like i am even not allowed to show them to my wife. publishing them, like on internet, is absolutely illegal. i am often very surprised of seeing so many pics on the net like this, also in here. of course, sticking to this rules you can never take true pics like HCB. nevertheless, it is not so easy. i like streetphotgraphy, but do not like for example wild tourists in the alps taking pics of me with their tele when i am going up the slope of a mountain with my racing bike. or when i walk the city with my little children and people come to take pics of them. for me this is very offending. then, we have responsibillitly. just because we trick them and congratuklate ourselves that they do not notice doesn´t make it more right. i agree pictures like that ones of 9/11 are important. i guess a godd photgrapher has to have a grownand wise personality to find the right thin line between them extremes regards stefan How many of the Berlin One Challengers knew about this? I certainly didn't! Didn't have any trouble whilst out shooting however. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest malland Posted November 22, 2007 Share #43 Posted November 22, 2007 ...i like streetphotgraphy, but do not like for example wild tourists in the alps taking pics of me with their tele when i am going up the slope of a mountain with my racing bike. or when i walk the city with my little children and people come to take pics of them. for me this is very offending. then, ..."Wild tourists"? Gimme a break! What do you do, ride your bike and walk on the street naked that you find people taking your picture offensive? Offensive? You're on a public street! Indeed, I find it hard to believe that the law is a stupid as you state. Can you give me the reference to the law or show the text here? I can read German and would like to read it for myself. By the way, "street photography" is two words, not one. —Mitch/Paris Flickr: Photos from Mitch Alland Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethC Posted November 22, 2007 Author Share #44 Posted November 22, 2007 It's interesting what people say about the point and shoot philosophy as we have spent just about the entire digital era deriding the term and often the people who use them as they're not really photographers are they? As a further thought, going back to one tip from the thread on the Prague workshop, "get low", even if you're pre focusing, setting the aperture etc then there is still the second task fo crouching very often or at the least getting into the Hunchback pose. One thing I noticed last time out was that some opportunities go away if you stop to talk etc, it's the pose or the juxtaposition of the position (don't try typing that Guy Mancuso, it will be a horrible mess) that makes the shot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted November 22, 2007 Share #45 Posted November 22, 2007 Indeed, I find it hard to believe that the law is a stupid as you state. Well, it's the law in France - even if lots of people ignore it, and to the best of my knowledge no one has been prosecuted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethC Posted November 22, 2007 Author Share #46 Posted November 22, 2007 Mitch, I think every country has its own stupid laws surrounding all walks of life, Germany doesn't have a monopoly there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drstefanlenz Posted November 22, 2007 Share #47 Posted November 22, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Mitch, I think every country has its own stupid laws surrounding all walks of life, Germany doesn't have a monopoly there. yes, looks like it. firstthank you a lot to have such patience with my malfunctioning spelling ( ). anyway, for sure i have done quite some sf both in france (paris) and in germany. well, i do not bike being naked (was that really a joke?), but i can see if someone aims at me or not. the link i am not sure but there are several when you google. if you know german try dslr-forum.de, i guess there should be topics on that. in france i had experiences with people getting a bit anoyed, walking towards me. here in germany for example i took a picture and that musician like 100 feet away flipped out. that was very ... anyway, i do like described before, act like i do not take pics of people, never have eyecontact etc. that also works well in paris:D greetings stefan Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest malland Posted November 22, 2007 Share #48 Posted November 22, 2007 Of course, Stefan, if you biked naked you'd have other problems. On the other hand, I read this morning in the newspaper that women in Sweden have gained the right to be bare-breasted at swimming pools, but that is another issue. Seriously though, a lot of this has more to do with how the photographer acts and his or her body language rather than the size of the camera. As someone wrote earlier in the thread, it helps your own approach to street photography if you are shooting a (purposeful) project than just snapping random pictures. —Mitch/Paris Flickr: Photos from Mitch Alland Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveB Posted November 22, 2007 Share #49 Posted November 22, 2007 An interesting show on one man's street photography is currently going in Connecticut. The photography of Jules Aarons: Street Portaits 1946 - 1976 The Hotchkiss School - Arts - Tremaine Gallery Some stunning pictures at the link. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stnami Posted November 23, 2007 Share #50 Posted November 23, 2007 Disfunctional.........................................comes to mind about this thread Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted November 23, 2007 Share #51 Posted November 23, 2007 Well if people get irate about having their photo taken I wonder how they cope with life's real challenges. For what its worth, if I'm in someones photo (and it happens a lot, I walk over London Bridge to get to work every day and there are often photographers both amateur and professional taking shots of us commuters) I really don't care. Why should I? It's almost flattering! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrid Posted September 10, 2008 Share #52 Posted September 10, 2008 It's certainly not easy and without a doubt a lot more difficult then it was maybe even 20 years ago. I have little doubt that HCB would not be able to amass the body of work he did, if was he working in our time. He would probably be in jail or bankrupted by countless lawsuits. First off you have to use a little commonsense. Shooting in the middle of South Central Los Angeles is not the same as shooting on 5th Ave in New York. In South Central you are very likely to get shot, where as on 5th Ave some yuppie may snap at you or toss his late in your direction. Shooting in the middle of a restaurant is not the same as shooting on the street or in a park. If you can over come your initial shyness, good upbringing and manage to become mildly sociopathic, so you can shoot people close up and straight on without having a panic attack, half the battle is won. Remember. You're only taking someone's picture. It's about as painful as getting a haircut. After that it's all about how you react to the response of your subject. Smile, be charming and more often that not play the fool. If people are aware of you smile before, during and after you take the shot. Be open. People can smell that. Watch Winogrand. He played the hapless fool, bumbling about, but behind that persona lurked a man who knew exactly what he was after. Not to say that Winogrand was a phony. He seemed like a genuinely funny and larger than life character, but he did use that to his advantage to diffuse the situation. Even Bruce Gilden puts on the scratchy, but charmingly nutty New Yorker routine, when he is caught. One very good piece of advice is not to linger. Take the shot and get out of there, unless you are looking for a bigger story involving the subject. Pay the consequences. Get the shot and endure the consequences knowing that you have a little treasure hiding on your roll of film and in the end YOU win, because all you want is the photo. The preface of Richard Kalvar's book 'Earthlings', perfectly describes the sacrifices street photographers make to steal moments of time. The ugly truth is that you need to come to terms with the fact that you are doing something mildly intrusive and rude in the pursuit of your art. Terriens / Earthlings If you do it long enough you will develop techniques that help make you invisible. I thought people were nuts, when they talked about how HCB could make himself invisible, but after a few years of doing it you learn a few tricks and quite often people never know you were there or you barely register on their radar. And finally practice makes perfect. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpattinson Posted September 11, 2008 Share #53 Posted September 11, 2008 I was out today with the camera for a short while, had some meetings and put the camera in the car to take it out for lunch. Granted, I wasn't exactly dressed inconspicuously, wearing a suit and tie, but I was tremendously self conscious of asking anybody if I could shoot them so decided to stick to inanimate objects. Lesson Learned. I read a great thread a few weeks ago about a street shooting workshop in Prague and gleaned some information from that but am having trouble launching into it. Some help, guidance, encouragement would be appreciated. I'm sure that once I start then it will become easier but as I'm used to shooting landscapes I'm trained to frame, focus ya da ya da quite slowly, bores the living daylights out of my subjects For suit related street photography - take a look at this: They called me a corporate whore - a set on Flickr For practicing, any place where people are busy is a good place. Markets, city streets before or after work (or at lunchtime, although the light is rarely good), anywhere that people have their own concerns and limited interest in wandering photographers. If you're in the street, walk slowly and turn around to see whats behind you regularly. You'll have more time to react if you're not belting along. Until you can focus quickly, leave the lens pre-focused and just frame and shoot. Figure out the distance you intend to be shooting at (say 5' in a crowded area with a 28) and just set it. A slightly out of focus shot with good composition and dynamics is much better than a boring shot that's nicely focused. I have found that always re-setting the lens to infinity after a shot means i can focus much faster in the street, as I only have one way to go*. You're shooting digital, so be happy that practicing focusing fast costs you nothing * I got this tip from this forum, probably the single most useful technical tip I've ever had. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenerrolrd Posted September 11, 2008 Share #54 Posted September 11, 2008 I try to be relaxed, nonchalant and comfortable when photographing among strangers. I think people take a cue from your own deportment and behave accordingly. In some recent thread (glenerroldrd's about the Prague workshop?) there was a shot or two of a photographer snapping pictures right up against a car's window. He was almost intrusively close it seemed. Still, folks will accept that if your demeanor is appropriate. . Just saw this reference to the Prague picture. This is Peter Turnley in action. He was exaggerating for effect ..as a group was watching him. The point being that approaching with confidence ..he could gain acceptance inside a persons personal space. Equally impressive was that he as able to take a dozen images before the driver let him know it was time to leave. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DuquesneG Posted September 11, 2008 Share #55 Posted September 11, 2008 It's all quite simple just take some shots, some people will always get pissed off. others will tell you to fuck off , someone may even smack you in the face....so be it. And to think, some people actually pay a dominatrix for that Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotomiguel Posted September 11, 2008 Share #56 Posted September 11, 2008 as usual there is heaps around I personally think that It's very poor. Put a wide lens in your camera and shooting, desperate, burning your brows, hundred of shots and then choosing one or two that are a bit singular. Perhaps is the future and perhaps any good results, but that's not the way to enjoy photography. That's (in my not important opinion) not a good photographer. It's just a good shooter with probably some neck pain. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stnami Posted September 11, 2008 Share #57 Posted September 11, 2008 Of course they are shit, but it is rangefinder imitation sleuth is what people aspire for .......gotta keep the punters happy here ...............remember this is all deadly serious life and death stuff, mental fragility could be the first victim of machine gun Charlie And to think, some people actually pay a dominatrix for that ........... but that is is a heck of a lot more fun Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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